![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/VTA_train_operators_could_go_on_strike_n_0_7421322_ver1.0.jpg\")
article <\/p>\n article <\/p>\n
SAN JOSE, Calif. – Valley Transit Authority (VTA) and a local truck dealership are headed to trial over VTA’s use of eminent domain. At issue: what is fair compensation for a forced move?<\/p>\n
Use of eminent domain\u00a0 <\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
The transit agency has been acquiring land for its six-mile BART extension project, slated to open in 2036.<\/p>\n
After decades in this San Jose<\/a> spot, the Monarch Truck Center was forced to move to make way for VTA’s BART extension.<\/p>\n VTA took the property off North 30th using eminent domain, essentially acquiring private property for public use.<\/p>\n At the time, Monarch owner Nicole Guetersloh remembers thinking, “Eminent domain, it’s hard. But there are laws, there’s a process. We’ll come out of this OK.”<\/p>\n Compensation & business drops off\u00a0 <\/p>\n But Guetersloh says that has not been the case. She says the rushed timeline meant a move to a subpar location. She says they’ve lost square footage, parking, visibility and most importantly revenue.<\/p>\n “We were doing fine, running business as usual. The move happened, and we’ve probably had a 50 to 60 percent drop off,” Guetersloh says.<\/p>\n Monarch, a truck dealership, was a tenant at the old location, not the building owner. Still, California law says they can be entitled to compensation, both for relocation costs and for their business losses.<\/p>\n But in this case, VTA valued their losses at $0.<\/p>\n “I just am not going to let somebody push me around like that. I’m going to at least push back as much as I can to protect what I think needs to be protected,” Guetersloh says.<\/p>\n So Monarch is refusing to accept VTA’s assessment. And VTA is taking them to court. The matter is scheduled for a jury trial.<\/p>\n And while VTA says they can’t comment on pending litigation, Monarch is hoping it will help lay the groundwork for other small businesses.<\/p>\n They say it’s unfair for businesses to pay the price for a move they could not control.<\/p>\n “We have a lot of people depending on us. And I’m just trying to make sure we’re still here for them,” Guetersloh says.<\/p>\n What’s next:<\/p>\n The case is supposed to go to trial next week, but they’re in a bit of a holding pattern as they’re waiting for a judge to be assigned.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n San Jose<\/a>VTA<\/a>News<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article SAN JOSE, Calif. – Valley Transit Authority (VTA) and a local truck dealership are headed to trial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":208357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[1184,100,88,90,89,198,1967,1181,5539],"class_list":{"0":"post-208356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-jose","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-san-jose","11":"tag-san-jose-headlines","12":"tag-san-jose-news","13":"tag-santa-clara-county","14":"tag-transportation","15":"tag-us","16":"tag-vta"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=208356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/208357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=208356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=208356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=208356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}